ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – For Caleb Perez, sports have been a big part of his life.
"First it was baseball, and then football came later on when I was around 11 years old," Perez said. "Once I started playing, football just stuck with me."
At Palm Beach Gardens High School, Perez played both ways on the gridiron, seeing action as both a tight end and linebacker.
The South Florida native was quick to point out that while he was a Dolphins fan, he grew up watching one particular member of the Atlanta Falcons.
"Being a Hispanic football player, there's not a whole lot of them," Perez said. "One of my big idols growing up was Tony Gonzalez, especially since I played tight end all through high school. Tony Gonzalez was a huge inspiration to me. Guys like that paved the way for Hispanics in football in general."
When Perez arrived at UCF in 2014, he was slated to play a very different position than his current one as long snapper.
"I was recruited to play linebacker," Perez explained. "Coming in, long snapping was just a bonus to be able to get on the field. I stuck with it, trained, got better at it, and it landed me a scholarship."
A long snapper is not the most glamorous position. In fact, attention is usually not a good thing for the position.
"The only time you get recognized being a long snapper is when it's a bad snap," Perez joked.
With that being said, it takes a certain type of person to be a long snapper. Mac Loudermilk, who works closely with Perez in his role as a punter, has seen on a daily basis just what type of person that is.
"Caleb Perez is honestly one of the hardest working people I know," Loudermilk said. "The amount of resiliency he has is unbelievable. He came in as a walk-on and has worked his way to a scholarship and a starting spot. I have a ton of respect for him and his attitude."
It seems fitting that Perez would combine his passion for sports and his behind the scenes work into a career path as an athletic director.
"It was always something that interested me," Perez said of his career choice. "Event management, marketing – everything that happens that people don't see. I wanted to know about being associated with other sports, being in the background of everything."
The redshirt junior even sat down with UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Daniel J. White recently to get an inside scoop on what it takes to run an athletics department.
Perez plans to take the GMAT this fall and begin graduate school.
Soon, hearing the name Caleb Perez – off the field – will be a good thing.
